Threats to Lithuania remain unchanged, situation in Ukraine is "stably bad" – army chief

VILNIUS - The situation in war-torn Ukraine remains "stably bad", Lithuania's chief of defense says, adding that threats to Lithuania remain unchanged.

"The situation there is stably bad," Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupsys told reporters on Monday after his meeting with President Gitanas Nauseda.

There's been no breakthrough yet in Ukraine's effort to stop the Russian army's offensive, he said.

"There have been certain tactical shifts as one side takes a territory, the other one regains it, then takes it again. It is a frontal war", Rupsys said.

"In my opinion, this is a bad thing as the conflict might protract", he added, refraining to predict how long the war might last but adding that there are no prospects for negotiations.

Meanwhile, threats to Lithuania remain unchanged, the army chief said: "There's no threat of that conventional, direct war between Lithuania, NATO and Russia".

Although Russia has sent a large number of forces to wage war in Ukraine, "one must remember that it's a nuclear state", Rupsys pointed out.

Russia attacked Ukraine in late February and launched a large-scale invasion. After the Kremlin forces failed to take the capital, Kyiv, troops were redeployed to the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.